Want to see my work space?

I absolutely love designing and creating jewelry and spend a good portion of my free time doing this.  Since it is where the majority of my time is spent outside of work, I thought I’d share my ‘area’ with you.

To make jewelry, you don’t necessarily need a lot of space but I will admit that I’d love it if I had more.  🙂

On weekends, the first thing I do is start by making myself a cup of coffee.

My favorite coffee mug!

After I’ve made my coffee and I am feeling slightly more coherent, I proceed to my first stop almost every morning….Etsy! I check for any sales or conversations (this is what Etsy calls their email message system).  I check the front page bc they are typically always beautiful.  I look through the most current treasuries, I look through my items and renew some or add new ones and then possibly do some of my own shopping.  🙂

When I say my workspace is small, I RRRREALLY mean it.  I work on a vinyl covered card table.  I’m not complaining because I definitely make it work but it does get tight when I am working on a big order.

 

Those blue lidded bins in the back are my supply bins.  I have a total of 10 of them and they are all pretty filled.  Yep! I enjoy beads and beading supplies.  The pink, green and purple items in the front are my usual tools, the ones I use most frequently.  It’s definitely cluttered but I find my way around just fine.

Here’s a closer shot of those bins…  Look how full they are (remember, there are 4 more)!  I started out with six but had to expand because I was having such a hard time finding anything, I would get frustrated and quit working and never got anything finished.

 

Here’s a picture of some beads I recently used on a custom order of a friend.  That furry rug looking item they’re laying on is a bead rug, it keeps the beads still so they don’t go rolling around.  This is especially important when you live in an older home that is slanted just enough for beads to roll off the table.  My fiance got me this little piece and I love how handy it is!

So there’s a sneak peak into my work station.  Nothing exciting but it is my little sanctuary from all the regular world stuff.  I have to admit, I like my little space. ❤

New Items!

So I have a bunch of new items that I’ve made and will be adding to my shop soon and I wanted to share some of them here!

Studs are new to my shop, I’ve only started adding them within the last month but I am really in love with them and will definitely be adding more as time goes on.

 

Right now deep purples in shades of Concorde grape or eggplant are huge!

I have more to post but I don’t want to ruin the surprise before they’re in my shop, so keep checking back here and at jillianmackowiak.etsy.com for all future items.

Thanks for visiting!

Bead Show!

Today was the Rings & Things bead show in Rochester, NY.  They happen about twice a year but I’ve only gone once before.  The first time I went I was so very overwhelmed.  Just picture an entire banquet room full of tables AND tables of beads.

Any kind of bead!  Czech glass, gemstones, crystal, Quartz, Agate….on and on, it is like a bead Utopia.

The first time I spent hours, pouring over almost all of the beads there.  Each table has oodles (yes I said oodles) of different beads so it pays to spend the time perusing through each tray.  I wanted to touch every single strand and see if I could envision some sort of special jewelry made with those beads.  When it came time to go through and see what I could afford, it broke my heart to part with some of the strands because they were just so beautiful and I feared I’d never find them again.

This time was a entirely different experience!  I knew what to expect when I walked in.  I was beyond happy being surrounded by some of the things I love most in this world (beads & findings) but I wasn’t overwhelmed.  I didn’t feel the need to spend hours and hours pouring over each table and tray. I walked slowly past each display and scanned through what they had.  I found many beautiful new pretties (see below) but I was in and out (including checkout) within 1 hour.  I didn’t feel rushed or pressured but I knew that they would come back again and I would find even more gorgeous stuff the next time they came around.

I thought I’d share pictures of some of my new beads below:

It is only a matter of time before these beads become beautiful new, necklaces, earrings or bracelets.  I had a blast today, it is so fun to be surrounded by people that have a similar love that you do.  You just feel inspiration emanating from the room.

Till next time…

Important Words

Every month Etsy let’s their sellers and buyers know what words they will be looking for.  These are the words that they recommend sellers tag their items with and the words that buyers search for items  for.

Etsy is pretty up front about what types of things they’re going to look to feature on their front page, blogs or emails.  It isn’t a deep hidden secret, it just takes some research and reading.  The best way to get your treasury to the front page is to choose items that fit these descriptive words and then tag the treasury as such.

Since I am such a sweet person, I decided to do the leg work for you this month and share some of the important KEYwords.  You can see the article I pulled them from in it’s entirety here.

Please remember this list isn’t all inclusive!

• Halloween
• black
• gray
• blood red
• dark arts
• vampires
• steampunk
• scary
• creepy
• gourds / pumpkins
• orchard / vineyard
• woodland
• Fall
• Autumn
• Opal
• Libra
• Scorpio
• foxes
• bears
• owls
• acrons
• pine cones
• leaves
• feathers
• foliage
• plaid
• camel
• rust
• turquoise
• mustards
• deep berry
• wine
• muted greens

Notice how almost all have to do with Autumn and Fall or the colors or themes that represent those so well.  Tis that season!

When tagging items and treasuries it is also important to use accurate tags that actually describe the product you’re listing or including.  When you start just adding tags to get noticed, people DO notice and it really puts a damper on your Etsy reputation.

Happy Etsy Selling!

Facebook Fan Page

So finally after being in business for almost 2 yrs I created a Facebook fanpage!  (Sound the trumpets)

Jewelry by Jillian <— (go ahead and click on the link, it will take you directly to my fan page)

Facebook Fan Page Profile Pic

I had been trying to decide if I wanted one or not because I was getting quite a bit of business by just posting new listings on my own personal Facebook page.  But after having it created for only about 3 days, I can see the value in having a fan page.   I’m currently up to 58 fans and I hope that number continues to grow.  I’m honored that people find my items nice, pretty, fancy enough to buy and wear.

I’m slowly but surely adding pictures of all the items in my shop, plus I plan on continuing to add to it as I add new items to my shop.

Right now I’ve been pretty busy with getting my wholesale order ready as well as a few different regular orders from Etsy.  I also will be starting on some wedding jewelry for a friend soon so lots of new items will be coming but slowly!

Here’s a little peak into my crazy world of supplies.  Underneath all those pieces is the table I work on…someday I’ll see it again.  😀

Till next time — happy beading!

So Fortunate!

Hello readers,

I am so lucky to be featured in two GORGEOUS Etsy treasuries!

The first was created by sannipanni.

‘O’Sweet Maple Sugar’ by sannipanni

Thinking of the sweetness of autumn treats makes my mouth water…. Yay September!

Hand Painted Sugar Maple Lea… SeaBelles $6.99	Maple Brown Sugar – Lucite L… StudioSeventyF… $11
Maple Brown Sugar Crunch Soa… WickedSoaps $5	Sugar Maple Seeds Original P… fosterbk $28
Japanese Maple Mame/Shohin timtierney $48	Maple Sugar Whipped Parfait … SweetandTranqu… $9.00
Maple Sugar Sky – 12×12 Phot… ArtByAmarose $28	Conges Colores – Czech Glass… JillianMackowi… $15
SALE Sugar Bush Necklace shootfromcanad… $32	Natural Exfoliating Lip Scru… SoapStore $10
Maple Sugar – sterling silve… sundaezchild $65.00	VERMONT MAPLE CRUNCH Flavore… katherynmd $11.95
SALE – Ben Seibel for Iroquo… MonkiVintage $22	Hand Dyed Ribbon Maple Sugar… JodyPoesy $5
Pick 3 Marshmallow Sampler P… whimsyandspice $9	Real Sugar Maple Leaf Pendan… Jeunebugs $26

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Website

The second one was created by Your Memories Captured

‘All the Leaves are Brown…..’ by YourMemoriesCaptured

A celebration of the upcoming fall season with trees and leaves of all colors

Two Color 6 Foot Nursery Tre… DecorDesigns $89.99	Spooky Forest – Photographic… DougArmand $28
Autumnal Vintage Style Table… craftypagan $6.2	Rhinestone and tulle leaf he… myrakim $195
Two TREES TShirt FALL COLORS… CritterJitters $15	Printable Invitation – Rusti… YourMemoriesCa… $12
Wooden Leaf Puzzle justhatched $38	Light in Leaves Original Oil… CreatorsJoy $50
Alix (in Gunmetal) – Leaf Ea… JillianMackowi… $10	Fall Foliage Custom Drilled … Moreskyejewels $10
cover WITH insert — custom … cozyblue $46	Two New 20 inch Handmade Con… MARIESCOSYCUSH… $38
Season of Changes – Handmade… SewColorfulDes… $2.5	Autumn Leaves – 3 oz Soaps HeidisHandmade… $4.5
WOODLANDS BOBBY PIN TRIO – y… LittleMissMomm… $10.00	Genuine Aspen Leaves Lariat … briguysgirls $40

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

You can go ahead and click on any of the pictures and it should direct you to the item on Etsy!  Thanks to Red Row Studio for creating such an awesome treasury tool.  Here’s the website where you can go check it out… Etsy Treasury HTML code generator.

Thank you to both Etsy sellers!  They are gorgeous and I am so grateful!